North Temple bridge demolition begins

SALT LAKE CITY (Deseret News) — Shortly after business and community leaders pleaded with the public Tuesday to continue to patronize North Temple businesses, construction crews began demolition of the street's iconic traffic bridge, limiting access to the city's west side for the next roughly 18 months.

For the next two months, crews will demolish the bridge, which took vehicles over railroad tracks along North Temple from 350 West to 600 West.

During the remaining time, crews will rebuild the bridge with some changes:

The bridge will span from about 450 West to 600 West, leaving a block open for development.

It will accommodate two lanes of vehicle traffic in each direction instead of three.

The bridge will have a sidewalk and bike path in each direction.

It will include a light rail track for a new TRAX line connecting downtown to the Salt Lake City International Airport.

"First-class cities have mass transit to the airport," Lt. Gov. Greg Bell said at Tuesday's event. "And that's what this project does."

North Temple will change with light rail construction. From 600 West to I-80, the Utah Transit Authority will create a "park strip" with native plants to make the area more visually appealing, harking to the past. In the early 1900s, North Temple was lined with trees and had a trolley car route, said JT Martin, a Salt Lake City councilman.